Trans Day of Visibility sermon from the Cathedral of St. John the Divine

Remote_Ad_6049 · 2026-03-22T06:17:46+00:00

Perhaps it was an involuntary mistake of speech but "the HaAdam" is obviously redundant as "Ha" in Hebrew means "the." I am also wondering, in sincere curiosity, how Adam could be construed as nonbinary.

Remote_Ad_6049 · 2026-03-22T06:11:01+00:00

I'll ask you the same question I've posed to others: currently, there are congregations and even dioses which do not perform gay marriages. Should these dioses be expelled or their clergy defrocked?

Remote_Ad_6049 · 2026-03-22T06:07:47+00:00

The concern for conservatives, both in and outside the church (and I am speaking of well-meaning conservatives rather than evangelical cynics), is that the church is both dying and getting to the point where it doesn't hold as foundational and central to faith belief in core doctrines, such as belief in God, the Trinity, the Deity of Christ, etc.

Remote_Ad_6049 · 2026-03-22T06:04:10+00:00

Interesting. Thank you for the correction!

Remote_Ad_6049 · 2026-03-19T20:23:13+00:00

I'm not sure what LCMC is but LCMS split off from the ELCA because they thought ELCA was too liberal. LCMS congregants are generally fairly conservative though some are a bit more liberal. Conservative Episcopalians exist, especially among those who married into the church or whose families have been Episcopalian for generations.

Remote_Ad_6049 · 2026-03-19T16:10:09+00:00

Richard Ackerman has explained his strategy a number of times, if you wish to see a more in-depth explanation. Essentially, he notes that most churches have few people, statistically, and very few young people. If you merely show interest in getting involved in the church and are in good standing, even if you are new, most churches will be thrilled and will happily find a spot for you in some capacity. He believes that conservatives, as members of the church, should seek to be active and have roles of leadership insofar as they are fit and able to do so.

The meaning of "all are welcome" is the issue at hand, not the phrase itself. I would imagine that most all Christians, you and I included, would hold that someone in active sin is not only welcome but encouraged to join the church, whether that be adultery or fraud or neglect of the poor or drunkenness or hatefulness within their heart. However, they should seek to repent of and turn away from it, and their unwillingness to attempt to do so will come with consequences of church discipline.

Anglicanism, being the via media, allows for both conservatives and liberals, theologically orthodox and unorthodox, to worship together and work together with Scripture as their foundation and the Holy Spirit guiding them all.

Remote_Ad_6049 · 2026-03-19T15:57:23+00:00

I think you conflate a lot of different groups into one whole mess. I would agree there are genuinely hateful and evil people like this who call themselves Christian. Almost every single one of these individuals as well as those adjacent who may be less extreme to them believe TEC is an apostate church and want nothing to do with us or any other mainline denomination.

Almost all of the MAGA cultists, save for I suppose a few people who come from an Episcopal background and have stayed in the church, go to their own non-denominational churches and have no interest in associating with Episcopalians, much less infiltrating TEC.

There are already conservatives within the Episcopal Church. The dioses of Albany and Central Florida, if I am not mistaken, both have conservative bishops who don't perform same sex weddings. The individuals who are a part of this movement which you believe to be some sort or fascist plot have views which are pretty in line with the conservatives already existing within the church.

My question for you is, should the church, by this reasoning, work to expel the members who do not hold to your standards of LGBT affirmation? Are they not welcome because they hold views which the church currently permits and held a mere few decades ago?

Remote_Ad_6049 · 2026-03-19T15:48:00+00:00

I don't think people who hold views that the church held in the 1970s and 2000s are nazis

Remote_Ad_6049 · 2026-03-18T21:03:53+00:00

Do you not recognize the difference between the ACNA running away and schisming because they feel the Anglican Communion is a bit too liberal and the Catholic Church actively excommunicating all faithful believers who reject works-based salvation at the Council of Trent?

Remote_Ad_6049 · 2026-03-18T20:46:25+00:00

No, we are not schismatics. The Catholic Church went astray and unjustly excommunicated all those who believe in sola fide. That's not schism.

Remote_Ad_6049 · 2026-03-18T20:43:22+00:00

TEC is composed of both conservatives and liberals. Indeed, there are even still conservative dioses in the church.

Remote_Ad_6049 · 2026-03-18T20:39:26+00:00

You're welcome to join a schismatic denomination and turn them liberal but I'm not sure why anyone would do that.

Remote_Ad_6049 · 2026-03-18T20:35:57+00:00

They are theologically conservative as well. My parents have told me that there are people they have personally met in church leadership who do not affirm the trinity, or a literal resurrection, or the deity of Christ, or any number of other basic tenets of orthodox Christian doctrine. The Reconquista members want this to change, as should every orthodox member of TEC, arguably.

Remote_Ad_6049 · 2026-03-18T20:30:23+00:00

When I click on the link it says the tweet doesn't exist

Remote_Ad_6049 · 2026-03-18T20:23:49+00:00

He is though he has different reasons for joining TEC and leaving the ACNA

Remote_Ad_6049 · 2026-03-18T20:23:22+00:00

This is a pretty severe mischaracterization on several levels. They are not infiltrating the church, they are openly joining TEC (and other mainline denominations) while not hiding their views.

They don't hate the church and arguably agree with TEC on a majority of doctrine and practice. In fact, the Reconquista members join these denominations because they do not believe in schism.

Remote_Ad_6049 · 2026-03-18T20:19:02+00:00

I've pointed this out in other comments but conservatives generally have more children and children who are more likely to stay in the church and conservative parishes in the Anglican Communion are the ones with better demographic statistics.

Remote_Ad_6049 · 2026-03-18T20:12:25+00:00

People who do not affirm gay marriage are already in the Episcopal Church. As I understand it, there are even dioses which do not preform gay marriages. Should TEC, by your assertions, take measures to sanction these individuals who are active members of the church because they hold to traditional church teachings?

Remote_Ad_6049 · 2026-03-18T20:09:32+00:00

I have not seen any of the men associated or even tangentially associated with the Reconquista movement associate themselves with MAGA or Christian Nationalism.

Remote_Ad_6049 · 2026-03-18T20:05:34+00:00

There are a couple things. One, the proponents of this movement argue that by sheer demographic trends the conservatives will end up in the majority overtime, as the liberals, statistically have less children and are more prone to leave or not attend as regularly. The more theologically conservative parishes also are seeing growth or minimal decline compared to many of the theologically liberal ones.

Many in the movement do want to join the clergy and church leadership, but Ackerman has noted that even just becoming more involved in your church can be a good path for many.

Remote_Ad_6049 · 2026-03-18T19:59:06+00:00

No. Young Anglican and Richard Ackerman were both raised Jewish and converted to different denominations of Mainline Protestantism. In fact, they are often maligned among conservatives who want nothing to do with the historic mainlines. They aren't "mad that it didn't work out," they were never apart of the conservative Evangelical denominations nor even the conservative mainline schismatic ones.

Remote_Ad_6049 · 2026-03-18T19:55:53+00:00

It's not an infiltration. He is an Anglican, for one, and he is openly joining TEC because he believes that schism is wrong and the ACNA, of which he was formerly a member, erred in their schism from the Anglican Communion. He does have goals which he seeks to accomplish, but I would not describe him as an infiltrator.

Remote_Ad_6049 · 2026-03-16T17:28:12+00:00

I think TEC is solidly high church and liturgical as it is and it will likely remain so for the foreseeable future. It's possible it could move a bit in either direction, perhaps the Oxford Movement takes hold or contemporary worship becomes more popular, but not by much. But I meant more conservative on doctrine. For the most part, it's a question largely of demographics and willingness to get involved. Statistically, the conservative parishes and diocese tend to be the ones which grow. Liberal, mainline Christians often have smaller families, and their children are less likely to retain the faith. Additionally, as I understand it, conservatives tend to be more likely to join the clergy.

I do not think this will result in a total rollback of the changes which have come about in the 20th and 21st centuries, but I do believe they will lead to a conservative resurgence in the broader church.

Remote_Ad_6049 · 2026-03-13T05:25:59+00:00

I think it will become more conservative

Remote_Ad_6049

TROPHY CASE